Nephite Coinage

Nephite Coinage

As part of my blog, I've been adding some small "Book of Mormon proofs", little evidences that help to confirm the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. Here is another.

In the 1981 edition of The Book of Mormon, a group of scholars from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were commissioned to add chapter summaries to the beginning of each chapter in The Book of Mormon.

Just to be clear, none of these chapter headings were ever part of the original text of The Book of Mormon. They were added in 1981 to assist readers in their study of this marvelous book. The chapter heading for Alma 11 reads as follows:

       "Nephite coinage set forth—Amulek contends with Zeezrom..."

In 2013, the chapter heading was revised to read as follows:

       "The Nephite monetary system set forth—Amulek contends with Zeezrom..."

So, why the change? Well, to put it simply, the concept of "coinage" is never actually mentioned in the original text of The Book of Mormon; "rather it refers to a system of weights and measures, as described in Alma 11" (Tad R. Callister; A Case for the Book of Mormon). A specifically-weighed amount of silver would be traded for a specifically-measured amount of barley, etc.

So how could this mistake in the chapter heading (a mistake made in 1981, not in the original text of The Book of Mormon) be considered a proof of The Book of Mormon's authenticity?

Let me ask it another way. Why did these extremely intelligent, well-educated scholars use the word coinage? To put it simply, they added an anachronism* to their summary of The Book of Mormon. They were so familiar with the concept of coinage (because it was so ingrained in their culture and understanding of life) that they read Alma 11 and assumed it was referring to coinage. This is an assumption that I'm sure thousands have made before and since. I know I have. Unfortunately, it was an incorrect assumption.

(*An anachronism is a thing belonging to a period of time other than that in which it exists. One of the classic examples of an anachronism is when Shakespeare referred to a "striking clock" to his play about Julius Caesar. But there were no striking clocks in Julius Caesar's day; only in Shakespeare's day. Shakespeare made a historical and cultural mistake.)

The point is this. It wasn't even possible for a large group of extremely intelligent, well-educated scholars to write a 15 page summary of The Book of Mormon without accidentally introducing an anachronism from their own time and culture; even after years of research and reviews and redrafts. So how could an unlearned 20 year-old farmboy verbally dictate without any notes or rewrites the entire 531 pages of The Book of Mormon in only two months? Without any anachronisms? How did he even come up with the idea that ancient Americans might not have used coins, but a weighing system instead?

And, as far as our current research into that period of time has revealed, it does appear that a weighing system was used, and coins were not.

"John W. Welch has noted that a Near Eastern monetary system based on weights and measures, similar to the system described in the Book of Mormon, was discovered more than 100 years after the Book of Mormon was published. In ancient Mesopotamia, the laws of Eshnunna (a city-state) provided that 'one kor of barley is (priced) at one shekel of silver.' The Book of Mormon states that 'a senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, and also for a measure of every kind of grain' (Alma 11:7). Professor Welch then noted that the 'primary conversion in ancient Babylonia was between barley and silver,' similar to that in the Book of Mormon—another evidence of the Book of Mormon’s ancient roots and authenticity" (Tad R. Callister; A Case for the Book of Mormon).

Ask yourself, what was the last thing of substance that you wrote? How many times did you have to read and re-read what you wrote before you felt confident it did not have any mistakes? And compare that writing of yours to The Book of Mormon. I couldn't even write this blog post without a few different drafts.

Thanks for reading.

For my previous post about Book of Mormon proofs, click here.

For my next post about Book of Mormon proofs, click here.